Reflection on an Internship - Essay Example

Student’s Name Tutor’s Name Course Date Reflection Internship goals To gain as much work experience from the host organisation. To understand how theories learnt in a classroom setting apply in real life work experiences. To obtain mentorship and guidance from specific people in the host organisation. To understand workplace relations and become an invaluable contributor in the workplace. Reflection: The relationships between management/human relation theories and actual professional practice through self-directed learning In literature, it has been argued that the aim of human relations is to create a sense of belonging among workers, hence making them feel as if they have a responsibility towards a bigger thing than themselves (Miles 148). Theoretically therefore, managers are urged to foster satisfaction among workers on the assumption that such satisfaction would enhance employees’ interest in the workplace (“Human Relations Theories” par. 4; Miles 148). Although it is hard to understand whether my manager during my attachment at Rusden Europro Automotive (hereunder REA) had any comprehension of such theories, I would say that he did his best to make me comfortable in the workplace. He assigned me duties that were easy for me to handle, and whenever he needed me to take on a new role, he would assign a more experienced person to show me how to handle the same. Oftentimes, and despite the engaging and laborious nature of my duties during internship, I would look forward to attending work the next morning. Although it is hard to say whether in deed my motivation came from how eager I was to gain some work experience and gain some critical knowledge from the internship or from how I was treated in the workplace, it is arguably the latter that made the work experience worthwhile. Arguably therefore, Miles’ argument that employees productivity increases when they are satisfied is arguably right (150). Notably, the human relations concept is wide. Following Miles’s conceptualisation, it is clear that the management should allow teams and individuals to exercise some form of self-direction (164). While working at REA, I was given the leeway to perform my duties the best way I knew how. Such a leeway meant that my manager had given me the flexibility advocated for in the human relations theory as indicated by Bratton and Gold (107). My goal however, was always to attain the goals and objectives of REA, which I had been briefed about when I started working. In reflection, I now realise the significance of Bratton and Gold’s sentiments that employees have a social need for achievement (107). In other words, after labouring for an entire day, I would be greatly satisfied on thinking that I had achieved something, not only for me as a person, but also for REA as my employer. Notably, I was charged with multiple but related tasks. Fortunately, my strengths include flexibility and the ability to learn fast. For example, I would handle contracts for new customers, settle transactions, write and post events, answer the phone and attend to customer needs, pick car parts from a nearby cooperative partner and file accounting records for each day. While the foregoing activities may seem like too much for one person, I now realise that the manager at REA was engaging in what Bratton and Gold call the “vertical extension of jobs” (108). Such job extension is a form of job enrichment advocated for in human relations theory where it is argued that job enrichment leads to positive outcomes. Specifically, job enrichment helps workers attain five job characteristics. These are: skill variety – the employee becomes skilful in doing different things; task identify – the employee is able to complete the work as whole; task significance – the employee acknowledges the impact that the job has on him and on the company; autonomy – the employee is able to independently schedule different job-related tasks in a manner that enables timely completion; and feedback – the employee gets feedback on his/her performance. With job extension (or my extensive duties), I experienced increased meaningfulness from work and though self-gauged, I can report that my productivity was high. Additionally, the sense of autonomy attained when I was given the flexibility to schedule my own timelines gave me a sense of responsibility since I perfectly understood that the work outcomes would depend on how well I scheduled and completed different tasks. At one time, the manager at REA ranked me as a high performer, and that enhanced my satisfaction and willingness to put more effort in my work. Feedback also played a critical role in my job as an intern, since I was always so eager to know how good my performance was. The feedback always gave me a reason to work harder, and subsequently, I never missed any work day during the entire duration of my internship at REA. From literature, it is evident that the type of autonomy I experienced as an intern had been mentioned by the likes of Friedman (265) and Coariat (40), who argued that it is a form of responsible autonomy and a self-discipline tool respectively. Further reflection on my stint at REA reveals that perhaps Maslow (cited by Abbott 192) was indeed right in coming up with the human relations theory, which posits that organisational tension can emerge when individuals are unable to achieve fulfilment in their places of work. Drawing from the human relations theory, Abbott notes that conflict can arise in the workplace if employees are denied opportunities to practice autonomy or spaces to utilise their creative thought (192). In my experience as an intern at REA, creativity was encouraged and people were granted autonomy to pursue their job-related roles without being dictated upon by the manager. Consequently, employees (me included) seemed satisfied in the workplace as was evidenced by the low turnover numbers and almost non-existing cases of absenteeism. In literature, it has been argued that satisfied employees are less likely to engage in undesirable behaviour at their places of work (Argyle 3). In addition to absenteeism, dissatisfied workers can intentionally do substandard work, steal and engage in other practices that sabotage effective performance and results in the workplace (Argyle 3). From management theories (especially behavioural management theory), it is clear that managers need to understand their subordinates if a company’s objectives and goals are to be achieved (Kadian-Baumeyer par. 3). In retrospect, I now understand that the manager at REA may have been abiding by the principles advanced in the behavioural management theory. Specifically, the manager seemed to take a special interest in all workers. At the time of my internship, I was the latest addition to the company, and the manager spent quite some substantial amount of time taking me through orientation. Given that manager was the person in the highest authority rank at REA, I was at first taken aback by his closeness to me. However, later on I learnt that that was what he did with all new recruits in the company, and it was his own way of making a person comfortable in the new workplace. Looking back, I wonder why he took so much interest in me, despite the fact that I was working as an intern and sooner, I would have to leave the organisation. If the proposition made in the behavioural management theory is anything to go by, I now realise that perhaps the manager was doing what he did with the intention of ensuring that I liked my working conditions, and that I was satisfied. According to Kadian-Baumeyer, the behavioural management theory posits that employee productivity increases when they (the employees) are satisfied in both how they are treated at the workplace and in the environments they work in (par. 4). According to Langdale, the behavioural management theory perceives the organisation as a social system, where interactions between managers and employees take place and determine the perceptions and reactions that the latter have towards the organisation (4). Langdale therefore argues that employees’ motivation, communication and participation is to a great extent influenced by the management style (4). Specifically, the nature of interactions that the manager fosters with his subordinates dictates the collective attitudes and norms that will prevail in the organisation. My experience working at REA supports the foregoing notion, since the manager whom I worked under was approachable, easy to deal with, and one who would offer advice without being reproachful. As a result, I was able to seek assistance from him whenever the need to do so arose, and this to a great extent enabled me to acquire more skills and knowledge from the internship. Moreover, I learnt through observation that he interacted with many more employees, and even had an open-door policy where anyone could walk into his office without any appointments. To a great extent, the manager at REA seemed like a first among equals, and he was not afraid to dirty his hands with jobs that were attended to by his subordinates. Consequently, I got the impression that most people liked working around him, were not intimidated by him, and were eager to share opinions and suggestions with him. Having been given the responsibility of organising daily work schedules and allocating car repair duties to mechanics, I realise now in retrospect that I learnt valuable life lessons about handling workers from the manager at REA. Since he was never pushy with his subordinates, I realised that I have adopted the same kind of demeanour while working with others. When I first started my internship at REA for example, I had a major weaknesses, which has similarities to scientific management-inspired notion about work. For example, I expected that all mechanics would share work equally. Such expectations were similar to the scientific management theory that suggested that managers’ role was to issue instructions while the employees’ role was to do the work while observing the best practice (Sibbet par.3). Moreover, scientific management theory suggests that the workload should be shared evenly among workers (Sibbet par. 3). After weeks of working with and observing the manager at REA, I realised that my approach to management would not work well and could have faced resistance from those I was charged to allocate duties to. Besides, I realised that the amount of time and effort needed to repair different cars varied significantly, and there was no way I could quantify the amount of work that would go into each car repair. As such, I had to rely on the mechanics’ goodwill and their ability to perform tasks without being pushed to do so. In other words, I had to believe that each of them would put as much effort in their work and effectively finish repairing each car as fast as they could. In addition to the lessons on effective management, I also acquired some communication skills especially from the daily interactions with my co-workers and customers. As an international student, I always had the impression that my accent would prejudice me in the workplace, but gladly, none of my fears were confirmed at REA. Finally, a look at the goals I had indicated in my diary prior to commencing my internship at REA reveals that I have successfully met all the indicated goals. Specifically, I was able to get optimal work experience from my internship, which was made possible by the job extension and enrichment. My second goal was to gain an understanding of how classroom theories apply in real-life work situation. I can confidently indicate that I have a clear understanding of how management theories and human relations theory apply in the workplace. The other internship goal related to finding mentorship from my internship. Luckily, I found a mentor in the manager REA, and I hope to continue our professional relationship with him even after the internship since I consider his managerial approach worth emulating and looking up to. Finally, I can confidently self-report that I was able to understand workplace relations and make valuable contributions to the workplace. Specifically, I was never engaged in any workplace conflict, hence an indication that I was quickly able to learn REA’s organisational culture and abide by it. Additionally, I was able to relate well with all my colleagues. Lastly, my contributions to the workplace contributions were evident from the manner in which I managed all my duties, overcoming time-related challenges, and managing to complete all scheduled tasks on a daily basis. Works Cited Abbott, Keith. “A Review of Employment Relations. Theories and their Application.” Problems and Perspectives in Management, 1 (2006): 187-199. Argyle, Michael. “Do Happy Workers Work Harder? The Effect of Job Satisfaction on Work Performance.” How Harmful is Happiness? Consequences of Enjoying Life or Not. Ed. Ruut Veenhoven. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Universitaire Pers Rotterdam, 1989. 1-13. Print. Bratton, John and Jeffrey Gold. Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice. Basingstoke, Hampshire: Macmillan Education, 1999. Print. Coriat, Benjamin. “The Restructuring of the Assembly Line: A New Economy of Time and Control.” Capital and Class, 11(1980):34-43. Friedman, Andrew L. Industry and labour: class struggle at work and monopoly capitalism. London: MacMillan, 1980. Print. “Human Relation Theories” n.d. 30 Nov. 2014 . Kadian-Baumeyer, Kat. Behavioural Management Theory: Understanding Employee Behaviour &Motivation. n.d. Web. 23 Jul. 2015. . Langdale, John, A. “Assessment of Work Climates: The Appropriateness of Classical-Management Theory and Human Relations. Theory under Various Contingencies. PhD Dissertation. New York University. 1974, 1-241. Miles, R.E. “Human Relations or Human Resources?” Harvard Business Review, 43.4 (1965):148-157. Sibbett, David. “75 Years of Management Ideas and Practice.” Harvard Business Review. Sept./Oct. (1997). Assessment 2: Individual Research Report Assessment Based at Fyshwick Canberra, Rusden Europro Automotive (REA) is arguably well located in a central place that is within the reach of its potential customers. Moreover, it is clear that the business offers services that are in high demand from all car owners. Such services include car repairs, car servicing, and transmission repairs. In addition, the company has diversified to include other related services, which include emergency car rentals to customers, courtesy cars and transport and delivery services. This report evaluates REA’s business approach, with specific attention paid to applying theoretical lessons to the experiences that this writer encountered while on internship at REA. The report will also identify some of the weak areas in REA’s management, and how the same can be improved in order to enhance business performance. REA’s business performance Gauging REA’s business performance by the frequency and intensity of work observed by this writer while on attachment, it is quite clear that the company has many clients who depend on it as the car repairer of choice. Additionally, the company’s extended business portfolio, which includes car rentals, transport and delivery services, has a wide array customers, most of whom have been referred to the company by other satisfied clients. Key among the factors that enhance REA’s customer’s attraction and retention is professionalism. According to Thakor and Kumar, professionalism is evident when the service provider has the right skills and expertise; when customers value the service; when customers cannot attend to their service requirements without seeking professional help; and when other customers who have been attended by the same professional testify to his/her efficiency (64). Incidentally however, REA’s professionalism was to a great extent inspired by its management, and supported by the employees who did everything they could to give customers the best service offers possible. The foregoing observation can be supported in human relations theory, where the manager uses a humane way of handling the employees, and consequently, the employees are more forthcoming in their work since they feel appreciated and valued (Rose 47). As Salzer notes, the human relations management approach acknowledges that employees have social needs in addition to monetary needs. Such needs are identified as the need for personal development and motivation (3). At REA, it was evident that the management took time to understand the aspiration of employees and also took time to create a cultural work environment that was satisfactory and hence motivating. Human Relations Practices at REA From the internship experience, it was evident that the manager was not pushy; if anything, he respected people’s sense of self-management, and would not in any way micromanage his subordinates. In theory, it has been argued that managers generally hold two assumptions about their subordinates. The first assumption is that employees are generally lazy; they dislike work and need to be pushed in order to complete simple task (theory X) (Stewart 1). The second assumption on the other hand holds that people (employees) are generally active and have a deep desire to shape themselves and the work they do (theory Y). Both theories X and Y were initially conceptualised by Douglas McGregor in the 1960s, and he proposed that managers who subscribe to theory X believe in totally controlling the manner in which people work, while those who subscribe to theory Y believe in giving employees the flexibility to manage themselves (Carson 450; Stewart 2). From the foregoing, it is rather evident that the management team members at REA were big proponents of theory Y. To manage the freedom however, REA had some checks and balances, which were contained in a company policy that stipulated the ‘dos and don’ts’. Additionally, managing work-related tasks efficiently and effectively was upheld by the manager specifying the company’s objectives, allocating the resources needed for job-related tasks, reviewing progress, and evaluating performance, mainly by getting customers’ responses and gauging repeat service purchases and referrals. The foregoing approach has some backing in literature where the importance of having clear objectives, monitoring progress and evaluating performance has been underscored as necessary to effective management (Bolden, Golsing, Marturano and Dennison 11). Own strengths and weaknesses as a practising manager at REA Though owned by a Chinese businessman, the physical location of REA in Canberra means that the predominant culture is Australian. As an international student who sought internship in the firm therefore, this writer experienced challenges in understanding and embracing the Australian culture especially at work. However, with time, fitting into the new culture became much easier. In cross-cultural communication, it was evident that true to Pym’s observation, a high degree of effort is exerted by the communicator for purposes of making his information clear and easy to understand by the respondent (16). The cross-cultural adaptation theory could also be used to describe the dynamic unfolding that enabled this writer to attain an internal equilibrium despite struggling to understand and act in line with values of the host culture. The cross-cultural theory indicates that successful adaptation to a new culture gradually leads to the identity transformation of a person, who eventually assumes an intercultural personhood (Kim 359). The internship experience also confirms the total quality management theory, where quality standards are based on the needs and desires of individual customers as indicated by Spencer (450). Specifically, this writer learnt that it did not matter how satisfactory REA employees thought they had performed a job; what mattered most is whether the customer appreciated it. As a person who would hesitate before making a decision, therefore, this writer realised that the value of a service provision could drastically go down in the customer’s view, if he or she did not receive the desirable service in good time. Consequently, the writer learnt to be fast but prudent in his decision-making, in order to avoid making costly mistakes. The writer’s major strength is that he had an open mind, was willing to learn and was fast at learning. The concepts of experiential learning theory (ELT) were arguably true in the writer’s internship experience and the learning that took place therein. Kolb and Kolb observe that ELT perceives learning as the process of acquiring knowledge that occurs as a person goes through different experiences and draws vital lessons and skills from them (44). Notably, managing an organisation (even at a supportive level as an intern) gives one vital lesson especially in entrepreneurial learning, creativity, strategy formulation, decision-making, problem-solving and leadership (Kolb and Kolb 51). REA’s Strong Areas and Possible Improvement Areas Arguably, REA’s main strengths lie with its management style, which fits into the cooperative management style. The latter form of management is defined by Kouzes and Posner as a form of management that is in touch with the employees and empowers them, provides them with feedback and gives them room to create the satisfaction levels that will make the work environment inspiring and motivating (29). As a result, the workers at REA are always eager to work to the best of their abilities and it is easy to tell that they are proud of what they do. Notably however, REA has possible improvement areas, which include inadequate resources especially in manpower. As a result, and despite the hardworking nature of most employees, the company experiences work backlogs, and this may affect customer satisfaction and value perceptions. Moreover, the nature of the car repair business means that too much attention is given to the technical aspects of the business, and sometimes, it would appear that the physical appearance of the company and its people were a bit neglected. The company would therefore benefit from a face lift and regular cleaning and re-arrangement of office stationary in order to introduce some aesthetic appeal to customers. In future, the company could also consider expanding its physical premises to keep up with the increasing demand for its services. Works Cited Bolden, Richard, Jonathan Gosling, Antonio Marturano and Phillip Dennison. “A Review of Leadership Theory and Competency Frameworks.” University of Exeter Centre for Leadership Studies. (2003):1-44. Carson, Charles M. “A Historical View of Douglas McGregor’s Theory Y.” Management Decisions. 43.3 (2005): 450-460. Kim, Young Y. “Toward Intercultural Personhood: Globalization and A Way of Being.” International Journal of Intercultural Relations. 32.4 (2008): 359-368. Kolb, Alice Y and David Kolb A. “Experiential Learning Theory: a Dynamic, Holistic Approach to Management Learning, Education and Development.” The Sage Handbook of Management Learning, Education and Development. Eds. Steven Armstrong and Cynthia Fukami. London: Sage, 2009. 42-69. Print. Kouzes, James and Posner, Barry. The Leadership Challenge. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2007. Print. Pym, Anthony. “A Theory of Cross-Cultural Communication. “ Intercultural Studies Group- Univarsitat Rovira I Virgili, Tarragona, Spain. (2003): 1-21. Rose Nikolas. “Human Relations Theory and People Management.” A Very Short, Fairly Interesting and Reasonably Cheap Book about Studying Organisations. Ed. Chris Grey, London: Sage, 2009. 43-62. Print. Salzer, Melinda. “Historical and Contemporaries Theories of Management.” The Saylor Foundation. (2013):1-7. Spencer, Barbara A. “Models of Organisation and Total Quality Management: A Comparison and Critical Evaluation. “ Academy of Management Review.19.3(1994):446-471. Stewart, Matthew. “Theories X and Y, Revisited.” Oxford Leadership Journal. 1.3 (2010): 1-5. Thakor, Mrugank V. and Anand Kumar. “What is a Professional Service? A Conceptual Review and Bi-National Investigation.” Journal of Services Marketing, 14.1(2000):63 Read More